Olympic Games-2030: Henri Giscard d'Estaing declines the presidency of the organizing committee

Henri Giscard d'Estaing, former president of Club Med, announced Tuesday in a statement to AFP that he was declining the proposal from the organizers of the 2030 Olympics to run for president of the project, left vacant by the departure of Edgar Grospiron.

In this text, Mr. Giscard d'Estaing “thanks” Fabrice Pannekoucke, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and Renaud Muselier, former president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, for “having proposed to him, on behalf of his executive committee, to be a candidate for the presidency of the Organizing Committee of the Alps 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

“I am honored by this proposal based on the success of the transformation of Club Med into a world leader in tourism with French roots, and its development in the Alps”, but “at this stage of my life, I now wish to pass on my experience acquired over many years and contribute to the definition and pedagogy of French and European leadership”, he writes.

My role now is to help and support those who can devote themselves fully to executive functions. This is what I will happily do with whoever takes over the presidency of Cojop, if he or she so wishes.

Henri Giscard d'Estaing, who announced in 2025 his departure from Club Med after 22 years at its head, following a conflict with the main shareholder, the Chinese group Fosun, has since founded the Paris Leadership School, which he chairs.

“After 28 years at Club Med, preceded by 10 years of important responsibilities at Danone and two mandates as general councilor of Loir-et-Cher, I consider that my role is now to help and support those who can devote themselves fully to executive functions,” he continues.

“This is what I will happily do with whoever takes the presidency of Cojop, if he or she wishes, to contribute to the success of this magnificent Olympic project which will give, once again, our country the opportunity to demonstrate its organizational and welcoming qualities,” concludes Henri Giscard d'Estaing, 69 years old.

Edgar Grospiron resigned on September 10 from the presidency of the Alps 2030 Organizing Committee, swept away by a serious governance crisis.

A source close to the matter indicated last week that the organizers of these Winter Games were giving themselves “a few weeks”, time to find a “unanimous” person. She also indicated that “many business leaders” were among the spontaneous applications.

In recent days, other people whose names were circulating to take the lead in Alpes 2030 have claimed not to be candidates, such as Tony Estanguet, who brought success to the 2024 Olympics, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, president of the Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), or even the ex-biathlete Martin Fourcade who gave up this position at the start of 2025.